| Abstract
| - During this study different raw materials, activating agents, and preparation variables wereused to compare the behavior of carbon materials with different morphologies in methane storageapplications. Two different types of carbon materials have been prepared: (i) chemically activatedcarbons prepared from an anthracite and a bituminous coal using KOH as activating agent, and(ii) physically activated carbon fibers prepared from petroleum pitch and coal tar pitch-basedcarbon fibers, by activation with CO2 and steam. Both type of materials have been prepared inorder to cover a wide range of surface area. The effects of different properties of the adsorbents(porous texture, packing density, and pore size distribution) in their performance in methanestorage applications (methane uptake and delivery) were analyzed. The comparison of both typesof materials (powder and carbon fibers) has shown that activated carbon fibers have the advantageof a higher packing density than powdered activated carbons. On the other hand, the chemicallyactivated carbons have the advantage of higher methane adsorption capacity than activated carbonfibers with similar micropore volumes, due to their narrower micropore size distribution. Duringthe present work an adsorbent with a volumetric methane uptake as high as 165 V/V and anothersample with a delivery as high as 145 V/V were produced.
|
